Manchester United dreamt of signing Joao Neves in 2024 before he ultimately joined PSG. The wonderkid has revealed the impact Bruno Fernandes had on him.
The summer that Manuel Ugarte made the move to Old Trafford, it was supposed to be Joao Neves who was pulling on the Manchester United shirt.
United considered Neves ‘the one that got away’, and he has since gone on to become a world-class midfielder.
Neves’ price tag that summer was baulked at by United, but he ended up costing a very reasonable £66m, which looks like a bargain in comparison to £42m Ugarte.
Now, Neves is on international duty and has discussed United captain Bruno Fernandes‘ impact on his career.
Joao Neves discussed Bruno Fernandes impact
In the summer, this all happened, United fans watched Neves and Fernandes grow close, convinced that this signalled a transfer was near.
Neves has now been speaking to Portuguese outlet SAPO, in which he has shared his relationship with Fernandes.
“I try to be myself, both playing football and as a person outside of it. It’s true that I’ve always been well received by all the more experienced teammates; I’ve always integrated well, they’ve always welcomed me, and given me a hand. I’m very grateful.
Who is your dream Manchester United signing in 2026?
“Bruno was a very important person to me. He helped me integrate, and he made me realize that I didn’t need to be nervous.
“Things that have changed in my football? I’ve improved my arrival in the box; you can see that with the goals. But I know there’s always room for improvement. I think one of the big aspects I was missing was arriving in the box, scoring goals, and assisting. But it’s not something I focus on too much.”
United had bids for Neves rejected that summer, and now the club will be increasingly angry that they didn’t push on to sign the Portuguese wonderkid.
Manchester United must finally fix the midfield in 2026
Missing out on Neves led to the underwhelming addition of Ugarte, which followed a familiar trend of missing out on top midfield targets for names further down the pecking order.
This also happened with Casemiro and Frenkie de Jong.
But in 2026, Ineos must ensure that the player signed is top class, with Elliot Anderson, Carlos Baleba, Adam Wharton, and most recently, United’s interest in Alex Scott all on the cards.
Premier League proven is a necessity, while all have plenty of potential and qualities that Amorim looks for in a midfielder.
The signing must be one to comes in and hits the ground running immediately, and either of these four would achieve that.
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